Lost and found: lucky dogs' day out

Friday

Jun 13, 2014 at 6:00 AMJun 13, 2014 at 3:16 PM

Some people curse the power — even the very existence — of social media. Pamela J. Rivers just isn't one of those people after a Facebook posting by a recent Worcester Academy graduate helped Ms. Rivers find her lost dog, Noah.

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Some people curse the power — even the very existence — of social media.

Pamela J. Rivers just isn't one of those people after a Facebook posting by a recent Worcester Academy graduate helped Ms. Rivers find her lost dog, Noah.

"Thank God for Facebook, I'll tell you," Ms. Rivers said.

There is more to the story than a simple Facebook post. Entwined with how Ms. Rivers found her lost English springer spaniel is the story of how Nick Johnson and his girlfriend crossed onto Interstate 190 to rescue the 6-year-old dog from traffic.

Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Rivers was in Boston visiting a friend, far from her home on Gilman Street here. Sometime during the afternoon her two springer spaniels, Noah and Dakota, got out of her fenced-in yard and wandered away. She believes Noah, the brother of Dakota, kicked a chain-link fence gate open and escaped after firecrackers upset him. Even an electric fence didn't stop the two dogs from taking an adventure.

As Ms. Rivers received a call from her roommate around 4 p.m. telling her that she had retrieved Dakota after seeing him wandering on a nearby street, Mr. Johnson was driving with his girlfriend, Audrey Adams, on I-290, when they saw brake lights near the Interstate 190 split.

"All of a sudden I see this gorgeous brown and white dog with this crazy hairdo," said Mr. Johnson, 18, of Worcester. "I said there is no way I am going to let this dog potentially get killed on the highway."

Mr. Johnson pulled over. Ms. Adams rushed out of the car. Noah was bobbing and weaving around cars. Other cars stopped in traffic to keep drivers at bay. Mr. Johnson and one woman tried to coax Noah to come closer.

"The dog actually came close to me and put his two front paws onto the jersey barriers and looked up," Mr. Johnson said. Eventually Mr. Johnson and one of the women corralled the dog.

With his new friend resting comfortable in the back seat, Mr. Johnson drove back to his family's home on Modoc Street. He talked to his parents about his plan to post information on Facebook, Twitter and to create fliers the next day.

"Found this guy in the middle of 290 today in the Greendale area. Please Share this post to give him a chance to find his owner," Mr. Johnson wrote on his Facebook page along with a picture of Noah.

Mr. Johnson's cellphone began to buzz over and over. His Facebook post was being shared again and again. As of Thursday afternoon it had reached more than 2,100 shares.

As the Internet crackled, Ms. Rivers was busy driving around looking for Noah.

She stopped on Wakefield Street and began telling people about her missing dog. She was worried she'd never see Noah again.

But Noah was fine, resting in a bed made for him. The dog was fed, given a flea treatment just in case and had a fresh bowl of water.

On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson's brother, Alex Johnson, was told about a post on the Facebook listing. Someone said the dog in the picture was owned by a neighbor. Alex Johnson posted his phone number. Ms. Rivers gave him a call.

"I'm a dog lover myself and my brother is a big teddy bear. He is a big, big kid, but he's a big teddy bear," Alex Johnson said. "We were saying that if we couldn't have found the owner, we would have adopted the dog. We've never had a dog in the family, but we are considering adopting one now."

Ms. Rivers picked up Noah and spent some time with the Johnson family. They took pictures and chatted. The Johnson brothers were impressed with how well Noah was trained.

"It was clear the connection Noah had with these people," Ms. Rivers said. "It was like 'Hey mom, come meet my new friends.' I thought he was gone. When I heard what happened on 290, I don't know how Noah got out alive. This guy is my hero."